Stranahan's Blue Peak Colorado Whiskey
Stranahan's Blue Peak Colorado Whiskey is the solera-finished American single malt from Denver's pioneering craft distillery — 43% ABV (86 proof), 750mL, distilled from 100% malted barley, aged four years in new charred American oak at mile-high altitude and finished in the house solera foeders. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.
- ABV: 43% (86 proof)
- Size: 750mL
- Grain: 100% malted barley — American single malt
- Ageing: 4 years in new American oak (#3 char), then solera-foeder finished
- Origin: Stranahan's, Denver, Colorado
Denver's Solera Experiment
Stranahan's helped invent American single malt in Denver in 2004, and Blue Peak is its most distinctive method: after four years in new American oak, the whiskey transfers to large oak solera foeders for a finishing rest — the foeders are never fully emptied, so every bottling marries into a continuous thread of earlier whiskey before being cut with Rocky Mountain water. The name is drawn from a 13,000-foot peak above Aspen, and the altitude does real work throughout: Denver's dry air and temperature swings push the whiskey in and out of the new charred oak faster than a Kentucky rickhouse would. Explore it in our American whiskey range, browse the wider whisky shelves, or visit the Stranahan's vendor page.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Dried apricot, nutmeg, cinnamon toast, leather and tobacco (brand notes). Palate: Butterscotch, brown sugar and baked apples with a cayenne warmth over toasted oak. Finish: Rich and mellow, earthy malt carrying through.
How to Enjoy
Neat first — the solera marriage is the story and it shows undiluted. A splash of water opens the dried-fruit side. It also makes a distinctive single-malt Manhattan, swapping rye's bite for malt's roundness.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "solera" mean for Blue Peak? After four years in new oak, the whiskey finishes in large oak foeders that are never fully emptied — each bottling therefore marries into a continuous thread of earlier whiskey, smoothing batch-to-batch variation.
Is Blue Peak a single malt? Yes — 100% malted barley, distilled at one distillery in Denver, Colorado, which makes it an American single malt.
How is it different from Stranahan's Original? The Original is the house's straight small-batch single malt at 94 proof; Blue Peak adds the solera-foeder finish, which rounds and layers the profile, and is bottled softer at 86 proof. Retailer listings that show Blue Peak at 94 proof have conflated the two — the distillery's own figure is 86.
Mile-high malt with a solera soul — order Stranahan's Blue Peak Colorado Whiskey online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.